This project will use a frame of comparative economic systems to gather and analyze data from economies in the most recent virtual worlds and social media. If a coherent system seems to be emerging, it will be interpreted as new territory on the map of the psychology of commerce. These new systems - having been born in the space between real and virtual - might move quite easily into the real world and, there, have a powerful transformative effect. Thus, this project is an effort to move quickly, in the early stages of these rapid technological developments, to see whether the unique but untested economic practices in virtual/real boundary spaces might have a transformative effect on the real world.
To test for potential transformational power, this research will examine a wide variety of virtual economies, from games, social media systems, and 3D immersive platforms, and attempt to identify common features. The functioning of economies will be directly observed by researchers; there will be no research protocols that require human subjects. The common features most likely to be found would include the presence of dual currencies (one entirely virtual, another between real and virtual); commitments to equality of opportunity and fair process; indifference to outcome inequality; and free goods alongside extremely rare goods. As a very rough simplification, we might suppose at this point, prior to any research, that if the virtual economies focus on emotional satisfaction, and the real ones focus on efficiency, the real/virtual hybrid system seeks policies that promote emotional satisfaction in the most efficient way. Put another way, the new systems will have companies aggressively seeking profits using methods that preserve the customers' fantasy that they are not the target of profit-seeking. If refined, such a strategy could have a heavy impact on commerce in general.
Institutions and policies birthed in the space between real and virtual are highly unlikely to remain there. For one thing, much of the real world already operates according to patterns we now label "virtual." For another, history indicates that systems melding freedom and profits with security - born in the drive to create a Third Way - have been incredibly powerful forces in social evolution. Even the United States now has a near-universal health care policy. If technology companies discover how to meld freedom and profits with emotional satisfaction generally- not just a sense of security but also feelings of self-efficacy, significance, and belonging - the models they design may be adopted well beyond the internet. First signs of such a change are emerging, as companies consider how to "game-ify" their workplace policies and professional organizations seek to exploit social media and games for serious ends. A general recoding of human organization may be in the offing. Thus while it is still far too early to rest easy on such grand concepts as "new economic systems" constituting a "new way," the overall significance of the possibilities warrants an initial exploration and testing.